The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Radiators, also known as heat exchangers, generally comprise a metallic header tank and connection pieces that are brazed onto them for connection of radiator hoses used to cool the engine. Generally, these hoses are attached by means of a barbed flange brazed onto the radiator upon which the radiator hose is slipped onto and secured by means of a hose clamp. Some hose clamps not only require placement at the proper location on the end of the hose as the hose is slipped over the barbed flange but, in addition, require manual tightening. Others utilize spring clips, but still require considerable manipulation in terms of properly locating the spring clip and then releasing pressure on the clip to allow the same to close tightly upon the hose and the nipple within the hose at that location.
Both of these types of connections, while effective in preventing leakage at the interface of the hose and the radiator, require considerably manual work to remove and replace and thus are not particularly economical, especially in a manufacturing assembly operation.
Furthermore, routine maintenance and repairs over the life of the vehicle often call for the hoses to be removed and replaced several times, causing wear on the end of the hose from repeated handling.
As a consequence, more recently, there have been proposals for so-called “quick-connect” couplings where it is merely necessary to fit one coupling half, associated with the heat exchange fluid conduit, to the other coupling half, associated with the heat exchanger header. One such proposal is found in German Patent Publication DE 100 17 679 C1, while another is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,723.
Despite the advantages in the cited prior art, there is the need for a quick connector for a fluid conduit to attach to a radiator, which is simple and economical to manufacture and provides a superior seal between the conduit and the radiator, while still allowing for the quick separation when necessary.